Declaration to obtain tax deductions for works on cultural property

Expenses incurred by taxpayers obliged to maintain, protect or restore assets subject to a binding regime, pursuant to the provisions of the Code of Cultural and Landscape Heritage, are deductible to the extent actually incurred by them.

Taxpayers obliged to maintain, protect or restore immovable cultural assets pursuant to Article 10 of Legislative Decree 42/2004, in order to obtain the tax benefits provided for by Article 15, paragraph 1, letter g) of Presidential Decree no. 917 of 22 December 1986 (T.U.I.R. Consolidated Income Tax Act), in lieu of the documentation and
certification as to the necessity and appropriateness of the expenses incurred for conservation works on cultural assets, may submit to the UMSt Superintendence for Cultural Assets and Activities a declaration in lieu of affidavit (pursuant to Article 40 of Law no. 214 of 22 December 2011), which must show the necessity of the expenses, when they are not required by law.

The declaration in lieu of affidavit (art. 47 of Presidential Decree no. 445/2000) relates to the expenses actually incurred for which one is entitled to the deduction; all those works that, although authorised, were carried out for functional needs must be omitted.

Tax relief to owners of assets of historical and artistic interest constitutes a strong indirect tool to support the conservation of the assets, in the face, on the one hand, of the considerable incidence of the expenses required to carry out the works (often of a compulsory nature) and, on the other, of the scarce availability of resources to be allocated to heritage conservation.

Persons obliged to maintain, protect or restore immovable cultural property

In order to submit the substitute declaration, it is necessary to fill in the form prepared by the administration and send it to the UMSt Soprintendenza per i beni e le attività culturali (UMSt Superintendence for Cultural Assets and Activities) at the following e-mail address: umst.soprintendenza@pec.provincia.tn.it complete with the enclosures provided.

The request may also be hand-delivered to the headquarters of the UMST Soprintendenza per i beni e le attività culturali (Office of the Superintendent of Cultural Assets and Activities), to the various public information and assistance desks decentralised throughout the territory, or forwarded by fax or by postal service.

For anything not directly provided for, reference is made to the provisions of Provincial Council Resolution no. 2051 of 14 December 2020 (Directives concerning telematic communications between the provincial administration and its public and private interlocutors).

If the declaration in lieu of affidavit cannot be submitted by the deadline for submitting the tax return, the expenses may be deducted the following year.

The declarations will be subject to random checks on the veracity of their content and the applicant must therefore be able to produce the following documents if requested

• invoices in original or certified copy, specified to measure and bearing the balance and endorsement of the director of works;
• summary and explanatory statement of the works carried out (accompanying the invoices) signed by the director of works (each individual item in the statement corresponding to a specific category of works must include a reference to the relevant invoice and to the authorisation of the supervisory body); if the works relate to parks and monumental gardens, the statement must indicate the square metres of net area affected by the works;
• photographic documentation before - during - after the works.